Additional Details

Secondary Description

This course is designed to be the student’s first high school science course and is a college-prep biology course that provides a detailed introduction to the methods and concepts of general biology. Heavily emphasizing the vocabulary of biology, it provides the student with a strong background in the scientific method, the five-kingdom classification scheme, microscopy, biochemistry, cellular biology, molecular and Mendelian genetics, evolution, dissection, and ecosystems. It also provides a complete survey of the five kingdoms in Creation. Students who take and understand this course will be very well-prepared for a tough university biology course.

Teaching a high school biology course at home can be challenging. What if I'm not knowledgeable about biology? What if I don't like dissecting things? What if I can't afford a microscope and slides? What if I can't find a course written from a Christian perspective?

Valid questions. One answer is Exploring Creation With Biology. This course can be used if you have any (or all) of the concerns mentioned. First of all, the book assumes that God is the creator of all life, not that life just happened or that one kind of animal evolved into a different kind of animal. While the creationist view is evident throughout the book, Chapter 9 is a 30+ page discussion of the theory of evolution compared to the theory of creation. Also, if you tire of hearing radical environmentalists whine about man destroying the earth, appropriate scientific facts are sprinkled throughout the book refuting many of their claims.

The book is written specifically for use in a homeschool. The authors assume no prior knowledge of the subject, and the course is written in an easy-to-understand, conversational style. Nonetheless, it is a serious biology text - one of the co-authors was formerly a university science professor. The book contains 16 chapters, or modules, discussing every topic you would expect in a high school biology course. The book contains a variety of drawings and photographs, both color and black-and-white.

Lab work can be more challenging in a homeschool environment, and the authors have made allowances for this fact in their course. Three types of lab exercises are included. First, household labs use only household equipment and should be done by all students. Second, microscope labs require the use of a 400x microscope and prepared slide set. Third, dissection labs require a dissection kit of instruments and specimens. The authors do not require the microscope and dissection labs to be done, although they believe that these are certainly beneficial. To make these labs more "do-able", they have developed a slide set and a dissection kit to be used with this course. We offer these below.

The course comes with two components. The student text includes all student reading, experiments, "On Your Own" exercises (with answers and discussion later in the chapter), and 15 to 25 "Study Guide" questions at the end of each chapter. The second book, Solutions and Tests, as you might expect, contains 10 to 20 test questions for each chapter, answers to the test questions, and solutions to the "Study Guide" questions. This guide also includes the perforated tests listed below.

How do students feel about this course? One student wrote, "I am one of the [homeschooling students] that has the privilege of testing out your remarkably interesting and informative biology course... I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to you for taking the time to put together and write this curriculum."

This has been a very challenging year in science. We love how the book is set up. It moves very fast and you really need to work at least an hour a day to pass the test. Great for college bound students.

I am currently using this course for my ninth grade year and I'm enjoying it thus far! It's easy to implement and though the labs utilize mostly household items they are challenging and I've learned a lot through them - especially the microscope labs One of the major things that appeals to me about Dr Wile�s biology text is the conversational style in which it�s written It makes me feel more like I�m actually learning something and when he discusses difficult or complicated material he will say something along the lines of �Now I know that all this is hard to understand but don�t worry�� I also appreciate the amount of pictures diagrams and graphs used to break up the text Because I am a highly kinesthetic and visual learner two or more pages of small font to read can seem daunting My mother likes the fact that she doesn�t have to know biology in order for me to take this course! We both love that the experiments on your own questions dissection labs and examples are highlighted in different colors - a significant improvement over the first edition The study guides are not too lengthy and usually only take 30-45 minutes to complete The module summaries which are located in Appendix B are extremely helpful in preparing for the test! Usually they will take a half-hour or more to complete All in all I believe that this Biology program is challenging and fun; will prepare any student well for college; and is highly recommended

This curriculum most accurately expresses our goals of learning for our children as they explore God’s creation. It is well written and comprehensive in scope with an emphasis on showing the intricate design and purpose of living things.

This curriculum most accurately expresses our goals of learning for our children as they explore God’s creation. It is well written and comprehensive in scope with an emphasis on showing the intricate design and purpose of living things.